Spiti.

Has anybody trekked in Spiti? How is it? And where can I get detailed information (and not the LP!). I am planning my summer trip and I am aiming to trek independently from Spiti to Ladakh. Any info would be really appreciated.
IainC.

I am interested as well. I am planning to visit on my 6 week trip..still in the planning stage

I met a Tibetan guide in Leh, who was involved in the Tibetan Peace March, with experience from Spiti. I`ll take a bold dive in to my pack & notebook when I get home to find the contact adress of his firm .

I trekked from Kyber to Korzok and further to Leh-Manali road. It is a great trek, very remote and not difficult. It takes 8-9 days to reach Korzok. First part involves a descent into Parilungbi canyon and steep ascent from there to Parang La - a pass 5.600m high. You would need some previous acclimatisation since you reach the pass on 3rd day of your trek ( I did a short trek on the plateau above Kaza before). There is a glacier on the north side of the pass. You can see some crevasses but there is usually established route in the snow which avoid them. You have to keep to the right side of the glacier since further down it becomes to steep to walk. The right edge is safe and even horses can go this way. Glacier is a source of Pare Chu and you follow its valley for next few days. After initial few crossings of the main stream you stay on its right bank. It is easy walk involving many crossing of side streams. The first time you see flat side valley on the opposite (left side) you have to cross the main stream and enter the valley. This crossing is a bit tricky, you have to do it early in the morning and still water can be quite high. We were using rope to do it. From there it is 2 days of pleasant walking first accros huge plateau inhabited by many curious kyangs then along the bank of beautiful Tso Moriri lake to reach Korzok.
I did the trek with porters (Nepalis) from Manali because we started together before in Parvati valley. I heard horsmen from Kyber do it too but allegedly they are quite expensive. Some people I met did it by themselves carrying huge packs of course.
If you have any more questions...

Hello Kolobar,
You are just the person that I wanted to speak to! And this is the route that I am interested in-Kaza,Kibber, Parang La, Tso Moriri,Leh. Or thereabouts. I have trekked in Ladakh for the past two summers and last year one of the routes that I did was Leh to Tso Kar where I spent 10 days living with Tibetan nomads, and as a photographer, I got some great shots. Did you organise your trip independently or through an agency and how did it cost, how many porters did you need and how many people were in your party, and do you know the daily rate for pony hire? So many questions! In Leh I use Tibetan ponymen, they charge Rs300 per day for each pony and the men (depends on how many ponies) come free, a guide cum cook costs Rs350 per day, and you buy all of the food and kerosene for the entire party, and at the end of the trek a tip of about 20% of the total bill is normal. The agencies charge at least $30 per day per person. Whci makes trekking with agencies very expensive.

Well, I was looking for porters in Manali since we intended to cross Pin Parbati pass which is not suitable for horses. You can find many porters in Manali (Nepalis coming to Manali to work as porters on bus stand) but they have no equipment, clothes, shoes, tents, stoves etc.) so I went through the agency and I got it very cheap. Normally it would cost 1000 rps per person per day but we got it for 800 rps (we hired them for some 30 days). It included a cook and all food but I had to pay for the transport back to Manali. There were three Nepalis, 2 guys from the agency (carrying our big packs), a cook and two of us. We had our own tent, sleeping bags.. Note: we did not pay per porter but for whole arrangement and the agency put up whole team accordingly.
We did not want to use guide since I like to do it on my own and I found 2 guys from the agency great companions in this (they did not know the trek before). Also, Nepalis were very fine and reliable guys.
Anyway we got lost looking for Gyama pass to cross from Gyama in Tso Moriri area to Leh - Manali road so we had to return to the route I know from my previous treks.
I dont know about the prices for horsemen in Kibber I only heard it would be more expensive. But as you know all prices are negotiable, especially after a huge drop in visit to the area in 2002. You can also get horsemen in Korzok if you do it opposite way since Ladakhi horsemen usually dont want to go that far or would not go if they do not know the route.
Few more things: if you want to reach Leh from Korzok by car you have to arrange 4WD taxi in advance and keep in mind the road from Korzok to Indus valley is often washed away.
It is much better to trek at least to Leh-Manali road or to Leh itself. If you are in a hurry you can reach the road in 3 days.
One good thing with porters: you have to pay return fee to horsemen so it would mean quite some money, because it would take them quite a few days to return. For porters, you just pay them bus or truck to Manali and some extra for food on the way.

Great stuff, thanks a lot! Do you have the name and address of your agency?
Many thanks,
IainC.

Me again. Did you see any pony/yak caravans, and did you trek to Kaza from Manali?
IainC.

The agency name is Renuka. You can find it in the market just behind the bus station in Manali. Ask for Naresh to come with you. He is a nice young man, with great interest in trekking/mountaineering which makes him good companion. I intend to trek with him next time so I hope he will not be occupied by you at the time

We tried to cross Pin Parbati pass but due to heavy rain and a close encounter with landslide we returned to Manali to reach Kaza by bus.

We met one group of trekkers going opposite way just before they reached Kibber. We also met some local people from Rupshu in Pare Chu valley who were going to Ky to attend kalachakra ceremony there. But most of the time we were the only people in the world...